Struggles with Bureaucracy

Over and over, Codell finds herself butting heads with the school's administration, most often with the principal Mr. Turner. Codell is confident in her abilities as a teacher, and has many brave new ideas she would like to try. These ideas usually do not conform to the existing status quo. For example, when Codell brings an ambitious proposal for what she calls the Fairy Tale Festival, with its carnival games and fashion show, she is promptly slapped down by the school and told her ideas are too ambitious. In her own class, however, Codell enjoys greater freedom, and is able to institute many of her bold and unusual teaching methods, which enjoy success.

Codell's struggle with bureaucracy is crystallized in the "Madame Esme" controversy. Codell believes she should be called what she likes to be called, and she chooses the title Madame, along with her first...